A father accused of killing his baby daughter has pleaded not guilty to 13 charges.
NEWARK, Ohio — A Licking County prosecution that began with an unresponsive baby call in Utica is moving toward a July trial after investigators said the child’s father admitted using too much force with a pacifier.
The case against Chance Terrence Topp, 29, now includes aggravated murder and a dozen other counts tied to the death of his 4-month-old daughter in 2023. The baby is identified in court filings as R.T. Topp has pleaded not guilty, and prosecutors must prove their allegations at trial. The case is in a key stage because investigators have shifted from a long fact-gathering inquiry to a courtroom fight over medical findings, family accounts and statements Topp allegedly made after his arrest.
The official timeline starts on Oct. 13, 2023, when deputies and Utica officers responded around 7:32 p.m. to a Crestview Drive home. The call reported an unresponsive infant. Emergency medical personnel took the child to Licking Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Hospital staff observed injuries they considered suspicious. At that point, the case was not yet a 13-count indictment. It was a death investigation with a baby, a home full of shaken relatives and a father who told police he woke to a crisis after putting the child in her crib.
Topp’s first statement placed the emergency after sleep. He said he had fallen asleep, heard gasping and tried CPR after removing the infant from the crib. Investigators later focused on what he did not do, including not calling 911 himself, and what others in the home said they heard before help arrived. Family members told detectives the baby had been screaming and that they confronted Topp by asking, “What did you do?” The grandmother said the cry was unusual and awful. Those witness statements gave investigators a competing timeline, one that began with distress rather than sudden gasping.
Medical findings pushed the inquiry further. Medics and hospital staff saw bruising on the baby’s jawline and a horizontal mark on her neck. A paramedic compared the mark to signs shown in strangulation training. The autopsy found that the baby died of asphyxia. Prosecutors said severe cerebral edema and petechiae also pointed to suffocation or strangulation. At first, the coroner’s classification included ambiguity, according to court records cited in reports. Later, the Licking County Coroner’s Office determined the manner of death was homicide. That ruling became a major step in moving the case toward more serious charges.
Investigators also examined the environment around the child. Toxicology testing showed the baby was positive for 11-carboxy-delta-8 THC. Prosecutors said Topp admitted smoking delta-8 THC in the same room as the infant to calm himself. Relatives said Topp often stayed up late playing video games, drinking alcohol and using drugs. They also described him as inattentive to the child. Those details do not replace the medical evidence, but they help explain the state’s theory of what was happening that night: a tired and frustrated father, a crying infant and an attempt to force quiet.
Prosecutors say that attempt involved the pacifier. In a 2025 interview, Topp allegedly admitted he may have held the baby too tightly. When detectives asked about bruises on the jawline, prosecutors said he admitted holding the pacifier over the baby’s mouth and nose. Court filings say he acknowledged holding it “too hard and too long.” The state alleges the pressure fully blocked the infant’s airway. Investigators say Topp wanted to go back to sleep and became frustrated because the baby was fussy and crying. Topp’s plea means each part of that account remains an allegation for trial.
The charging path shows how the case grew. In June 2025, the Licking County Sheriff’s Office announced Topp’s arrest on an involuntary manslaughter charge after a 20-month investigation involving forensic testing, interviews and search warrants. Officials said then that additional charges could follow. They did. A grand jury later returned a superseding indictment with 13 counts: aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of endangering children, felonious assault, strangulation, reckless homicide, two counts of domestic violence and falsification. Topp entered not guilty pleas to the newer charges at a May 19 hearing.
Assistant Prosecutor Tyler McCoy said the length of the investigation reflected Topp’s statements and the work needed to test them. McCoy said Topp showed deceptive conduct and made deceptive statements during multiple interviews before admitting, after his arrest, that he put too much force on the baby’s mouth with the pacifier and that she became unresponsive. Prosecutors also point to a recorded Christmas Day jail call in which they say Topp admitted his later statement was true and that he had lied before. The defense has not been proved wrong unless jurors accept the state’s evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
The child’s family has spoken about the loss in terms that sit outside the formal case caption. Amy Richter, the baby’s grandmother, said the family wanted people to know the infant was happy. She called her “Our Smiley Riley” and said the world lost many smiles when she died. That memory will not answer the legal questions about intent, force and causation, but it shows the human weight behind the proceedings. For relatives, the case is not only about charges. It is about the baby they say they are still trying to remember through smiles.
For now, Topp remains held in the Licking County Jail on a $200,000 bond. His jury trial is scheduled for July 27, when the prosecution is expected to present the disputed timeline, the autopsy findings and the alleged admissions.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.